The Bull
by xxxidrilxxx
Summary: They called him "the Bull". Lommy, Hot Pie, and the rest of the kids at college. Arya wanted to find out why. This is for magicmyth83. She suggested I turn a photoset into a story. So here is chapter 1 of a very short story. It will be set on one day alone. Probably 3 chapters. Enjoy! Comment! Link to photoset will be on my profile.
1. Chapter 1

When Arya finds out they are moving to Bristol, she's moderately indifferent towards the idea.

Sansa on the other hand, weeps, and complains and finally, organizes a goodbye party, inviting all her friends and her friends friends, and everything turns into a huge, drama filled event.

Arya personally didn't mind moving.

The new college was as new as any previous college had been, and making friends would be just as difficult as it had been at all the other schools.

Her father had kissed her forehead and wished her good luck on her first day as she clicks the seat beat off and shoulders her bag. "Thanks dad." she forces a smile, feeling her brows twitch with suspicion. What he's really saying is, _Stay out of trouble. Please._

Arya really tried her best to.

But bitches will be bitches. And the bitches in her first class had made it impossible for her to, _"Stay out of trouble."_

A few punches, two nosebleeds and a trip to the principal's office later, and Arya had received her first warning.

Her parents would be upset. Arya was sorry about upseting them, but she wasn't sorry for what she'd done. Not one bit.

She stood in the lunch line at the cafeteria, frowning at the limp fries on her plate, when she feels her mobile buzz. She balances her tray on one hand and pulls out her phone. The text is from Sansa.

**Mother is going to kill you.**

Arya's eyes sweep the room until she finds her sister, sitting with a few girls in one of the tables. Sansa shook her head disapprovingly, but Arya just rolled her eyes.

_All she's worried about is what her new friends will say about her having a delinquent sister._

Arya finds an empty table in the back, and sets her tray down, shrugging off her bag so she can sit.

Before she_ can_ sit though, two trays slam down before hers and Arya flinches back, clearly startled. It's two boys. One has long, dishwater blonde hair, too many freckles and a gangly figure. The other sports an even bush of brunette curls on his head and is... well, fat.

"Mind if we... sit?" the blonde asks in a bit of a sing-song.

"Uh... Yea... I mean. Sure. Sit." she lowers herself into her chair and bites her bottom lip awkwardly.

"Lommy." the blonde grabs her hand across the table and shakes it with excitement. "And this is Harry. But everyone calls him Hot Pie."

The fat one's brows shoot up on his forehead as he forces a quick smile before turning to his tray and grabbing a handful of fries.

"So... we saw how you fucked up Gwyn and Stef's faces."

Arya picked up a fry idly and nibbled softly at the tip.

Both boys stare at her expectantly, so she shrugs. "Uh. I didn't catch their names."

"Well the hot black one is Gwyn and Stephanie the other one, the tall one. Good job by the way. They're evil witches, they are. They had it coming." Hot Pie manages to mutter through a mouth full of food. Lommy nods besides him with a smile.

"Good job indeed." he agrees, and there ends that topic.

They seem alright. Hot Pie and Lommy. Hot Pie seems more like the follower, while Lommy leads, though he probably had no idea where he's leading to. From what she can tell, they loners themselves, but it's unclear whether it is by choice.

They ask her a lot of questions, but she oddly doesn't mind, and before lunch is over Arya has made up her mind about them. She likes them.

"So what's your next class, Arya?" Hot Pie asks as the three of them dump their tray's content in a trash bin.

"Government."

"Us too." Hot Pie smile.

"Cool."

They find three empty desks towards the back of the class room and sit side by side, one boy on each side of her.

The teacher welcomes her, like the previous ones had, but thankfully she doesn't ask Arya to go up front and talk about herself.

The first few minutes are boring and uneventful, and Arya can't wait for class to be over. But twenty minutes into the class, the door is flung open, and a dark haired boy steps in.

"You're twenty minutes late." the teacher rises from her desk, but the boy ignores her walks to the very back of the class, taking a seat on the very last desk.

The teacher shakes her head and made a note on her attendance chart with a frown and Arya notices that most of the students are murmuring amongst each other in hushed whispers. She catches some of the whispers. They say things like, "he's back." and, "oh my God, he looked right at me." and, "i can't believe he had the nerve to come back."

She notices Lommy and Hot Pie discreetly glancing at him over their shoulders and gives in to her curiosity.

"Who_ is_ he?" she whispers to Lommy.

"The Bull." he mouths inaudibly.

Arya face twists into a grimace at the ridiculous name and twists in her seat to get a good look at him. He sits with a bored, almost irritated expression, staring out into nothing. He seems as normal as anyone else.

"Don't" Hot Pie chokes out besides her and yanks her shoulder, forcing her to face the front of the room again. Arya slaps his hand away. _Everyone is acting so stupid!_ "Why not?"

"Because." Hot Pie whispers back in a nervous voice. "He's the _Bull_."

Arya rolls her eyes at her fat friend and steals another cautious glance back at the dark haired bull character. This time, he is staring right at her.

She catches herself biting the inside of her cheek to keep from turning away as stupidly as Lommy and Hot Pie had. _Just glare right back at him._

After a long, thickly intense moment, the boy breaks eye contact and Arya turns to the front slowly, feeling her face begin to blush just a bit.

_What a stupid name._ The Bull. And what did her ever do to gain so much fear from everyone.

She rolls her eyes again.

Well, whatever it was, she would find out. And not from Hot Pie and Lommy. No. She will march right up to him and ask him herself. She wasn't scared or intimidated by him.

_I'll do it right after class. _She promises herself and spends the rest of the the period thinking of how she would ask him. What she would say.

Out of nowhere, the shrill sound of the bell startles her half to death and she looks at her watch. Class is over.

**AN**

**Hi! Piled on another story to my list! AHHH!**

**A few notes. Gendry is maybe two years older than Arya... at most. I am visualizing Chris from skins rather than the older, 25 year old Joe Dempsie we see in GoT. In presence, manners, looks. The whole bit.**

**The entire story will take place in one day :)**

**Three, maybe four chapters is my guess. And, yes, it appears Gendry is the bad boy of the school.**

**:)**

**Enjoy. Comment :)**


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rang and Arya jumped, startled, as student around her rose from their seats and made their way to the door. Among them, was the Bull, who made it to the door before anyone else, even when he had sat at the very back of the class. Arya stubbled to her feet and swept a hand over her desk, pushing her belongings into her open messenger bag.

"So... what's your next class?" Lommy asked besides her. Arya turned to him quickly. For a short moment she had no idea what he had just asked.

"Uhhh. I ... don't feel too well. I think I might just skip last period and go home." she said as she shouldered her bag and ran to the front of the class.

"Oh.. kay... well... see ya tomorrow?" Lommy called behind her. Arya nodded quickly before darting for the door and stepping out of the class, into the crowded hallway. She turned to one side, her eyes darting all over, looking for the Bull's head amongst the rest of the kid's heads that crowded the stuffy hallway. Nothing. Her head snapped to the other side, catching sight of the Bull's bright shirt before he turned the corner at the far end of the hall. Arya lurched forward, shoving her way through until she made it to the end of the hall and took the corner. By then the hallways were beginning to clear and she spotted the Bull easily.

"Oi!" she called after him, adjusting the slipping strap of her messenger bag on her shoulder as she ran towards the boy. He pushed open the set of double doors that led to the parking lot and stepped out of the building.

"You! Boy!" she called before the doors swung close. But he didn't hear her.

"Damn it!" she huffed out. The slam her large, white creepers made on the floor echoed off the lockers of the now empty hallway as she ran towards the double doors. She pushed against the doors with two open palms, squinting against the bright sun outside as she stepped outside.

She spotted the Bull quickly. He was not too far off, crossing the parking lot and strolling across the school lawn, towards the road.

"Hey! You there!" she called him again, refusing to address him as Bull. "Hey guy!" she yelled, running after him.

"Young lady!" someone called behind her. Arya stopped on her tracks and turned to the school. A man, probably, a teacher, was poking his head out of the double doors she'd just exited from. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

Arya's mouth dropped, about to utter out the first lie that came to her head, but instead turned away and started running towards the Bull.

"Hey! Young lady!" she heard the man yelling behind her, but she ignored him, fighting with her bag's strap as she stumbled her way over the grass and towards the long gravel road lined with willow trees. The Bull was already walking down the middle of it, and away from the school, towards the motor way.

Arya breathlessly caught up to him, slowing down to a speed walk when she came a few feet behind him.

She could feel beads of sweat running down her neck and back.

"Are you deaf or something? I've been calling you!" she yelled at him, reaching for his arm and jerking him back so he could face her.

Arya noticed two things as she looked up at his face. He had been wearing his earphones this entire time... and he was way taller when standing just inches away from him.

"Oh." Arya said stupidly as she noticed the earphones. She watched him pull an earphone out.

"What!?" he growled at her with blatant annoyance.

Arya caught her breath and bit her lip, suddenly nervous.

_Don't be so stupid!_

"Well?" he demanded, taking a step closer to her, perhaps thinking he could intimidate her. Arya shot her brows up in a defiant manner. "I've been calling and yelling after you since class ended." she told him, trying to match his annoyance and his harsh tone.

"Yes. _I know_. I'm not deaf. I could hear you even through the music" he said dryly before pushing his earbud back into his ear and turning away from her on his heel.

Arya rolled her eyes and tugged her messenger bag's strap in place for the one billionth time before running to join him, boldly yanking at his shirt sleeve. "Hey, I'm trying to talk to you!" she cried out, walking around to stand between him and the road before him, so he was forced to look at her.

"Yes... and I'm trying to ignore you." he barked back through clenched teeth, bringing his face close to hers. Arya huffed out, tensely keeping herself from flinching back and forcing herself to look up at his eyes fiercely. She noticed the movement his neck made as he swallowed hard before his eyes looked away from hers. He shoved her aside. "What do you want?" he asked rudely as he started down the road again, leaving her to follow.

Arya licked her lips and swallowed down the nerves.

_Don't be a chicken._

She turned to join him. "Why do they call you the Bull?" she asked when she had caught up to him again. Her eyes followed his hands as he pulled off his earphones and stuffed them into his pocket. After feeling around a bit, he pulled his hand out of the pocket, holding a white, handmade cigarette and a silver lighter. She watched as he placed one end of the cigarette between his lips, and brought the lighter up to the other end, flicking it to life and letting the flames lick away at the tip, bringing the cigarette to life. He took a deep, long drag. Then another before letting a thin stream of white smoke rise from his parted lips.

"I have no idea." he finally answered with a shrug. Arya tore her eyes from his lips to meet his, which were staring ahead at the road. "You'll have to ask the cunts that came up with the ridiculous name."

Arya licked her lips again. "Why are people so afraid of you?"

This second question made him laugh, smoke rising from his mouth with every chuckle. "You'll have to ask them that too . . . I don't know."

Arya shook her head, narrowing her eyes in skepticism. She didn't believe him.

"You know." she accused him bittingly."There _must_ have been _something_ you did to make people so afraid of you."

The Bull sighed, clearly annoyed, "Don't you have somewhere to be? School?"

"I skipped last period." she said, struggling to keep up to his fast pace. Her large shoes, and her bag banging against her hip and sliding off her shoulder weren't helping.

"Well won't your parents be worried? You should go back." he took the cigarette from his lips between two fingers and began tugging his earphones out of his pocket with his free hand.

"No. They won't." she lied.

He one handedly pushed the earphones back into his ears, one ear at a time picking up the the speed of his stride. He turned to face her quickly, his gaze heavy on her. Almost as if warning her off. "Well you should still go back." he said darkly, and turned away.

Arya clenched her jaw and jogged her way besides him, yanking the earphones out of his ears by the cord.

Gravel hissed under his shoes, a thick cloud of dust rising from the ground below his feet as he spun in place, reaching over to grab a hand full of her shirt collar and jacket lapel, and pulling her to him, his nose a hair away from touching hers.

Arya could feel his warm, smokey breath fanning heavily on her lips, his nostrils flared and his eyes fixed on hers.

"You want to know why people are so afraid of me?" he let out in a low, sinister whisper.

Arya swallowed down the knot in her throat, ignoring the loud hammering of her racing heartbeat in her ears and the anxious vibrations in her skin that made her want to pull free and run away, and instead, pushed herself forward, so her forehead connected very softly with his. "Yes." she whispered back, meeting his intensity with hers. "That _is_ why I asked." and with that, she ground her forehead into his, pushing herself back, and away from him, tugging her clothes free from his grasp. "And just so you know. I'm _not _afraid of you."

The Bull face was twisted in a mixture of unwelcome marvel and irritated surrender. He brought the cigarette up to his lips again, combing his fingers through his coal black hair and rolling his eyes. When he spoke again, he did so in a dull voice.

"People are afraid of me..." he began hesitantly, exhaling a puff of smoke and taking the cigarette from his lips. "Charles Dodgson." he told her, as if the single name was answer enough.

"Who is that?" Arya asked.

" I fucked him up about two years ago. He was in a coma for seven months after that. He's still doing therapy for his legs, i think. I broke both. Left him on the floor for dead."

Arya's eyes grew wide.

"I lie. I steal. I cheat. I gamble. I use girls. I do and sell drugs. I've been in jail for the past two years. Been serving because of Charles. I'm out now though, and I'm being forced to finish my education. That's why I'm back... that's pretty much most of it. I may have missed a few things here and there... but to put it in simpler terms kid, I'm fucking trouble."

Arya stood completely still, slowly and carefully processing everything he just said while the whole while, he just stood there with a blank expression and a cloud of smoke surrounding him, just waiting for her reaction.

She should turn and run back to school. She had no idea what she had been thinking. The only thing that kept drowning out the fear and disgust was his eyes. How they waited. Almost as if they knew what came next. They knew how she'd react.

Just like everyone.

Arya cleared her throat quietly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, like I said. I'm _not_ afraid."

The Bull chuckled in awe, shaking his head in disapproval. "You're fucking metal, you know that." he turned to both sides of the road before facing her again, briefly and saying. "See ya." before giving her his back and walking slowly in the direction he'd been going.

Arya stood in the middle of the road, staring after him as he made his way down the road. She heard the low roar of distant thunder from somewhere in the city and felt a last surge of courage expand in her as she inhaled deeply. "Where are you going?" she called from where she stood.

The Bull stopped walking and shot her a quick glance over his shoulder. "I'm taking a little trip." he cried back.

_Why are you doing this, Arya Stark? Just leave him alone, and walk away._

"Where to?" she took a few steps towards him.

"Why do you care?" he snapped rudely.

"Just... curious."

He turned his head to look ahead of him, towards the motor way and let out a loud exasperated sigh. He shook his head slightly, almost as if at himself, and turned to face her. "Curiosity killed the cat. Haven't you heard?" he yelled loud enough for her to hear, taking a few steps in her direction. He pushed his empty hand into his pocket. Several more steps and he had closed the space between them, standing a few inches away from her. "I'm taking a little trip to Wonderland." he say in a low, seductive voice, holding out a small white pill in his open palm for Arya to see.

Arya let out a small, involuntary gasp.

"I have an extra ticket . . . . if you want to come." he added in a more hesitant tone. Almost as if he'd spoken before considering what he was saying.

Arya tore her eyes away from the pill to meet his. They were darting back and forth over her face before resting on her own.

"What does it do?" Arya asked in a low, careful voice. He didn't answer her right away though. He just stood there, staring straight into her eyes. Arya wasn't sure if it was because she was wearing a blazer and dress in July, the sun seeping though the clouds overhead, or because of the way he was staring at her, but she could feel her cheeks beginning to warm.

After a few more moments passed before he spoke again.

"I don't know." he answered. "I just got these. First time I try them." he told her as he placed the cigarette between his lips and pushed that hand inside his other pocket. When he pulled it out again, he place an identical pill on his open palm next to the one he had brought out first.

Arya took in the sight of both pills, just resting there before her in his open palm. Smoke surrounded them. The Bull he smoked his cigarette, and Arya stood still; staring at the pills. They were so small. But she found she feared them still.

_Face your fears_, said one little voice in her head. _You always face your fears. _

"What do you say, little _Alice_. Are you curious enough to follow the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole?"

The loud, piercing ring of her mobile, startled a sharp intake of air from her mouth. She closed her eyes and sighed, as she pulled the flap of her bag up so she could look for her phone. When she found it, the name Dad was on the screen and the green and red answer and reject buttons below it. Arya pushed the reject button with her thumbs and turned to the Bull's open palms, reaching over for one of the pills. He closed a fist around it before she could snatch the small pill. Arya's brows furrowed as her head snapped up to his.

"What?" she demanded.

"After I told you, all the things i've done." he said, taking the cigarette from his lips to speak better. "You know, I could very easily take you to an abandoned warehouse and let my friends gang rape you... Why are you even... are you suicidal or some shit? What is wrong with you?"

Arya chuckled. "You wouldn't tell me if that really was what you were planning."

"I would if i knew you were clever enough to figure that out. Now you think I lied, so you trust me. Which is exactly what I wanted in the first place."

Arya wrinkled her nose at that. "If you'd figure out I was clever enough to figure _you_ out, you'd have also figured out that I'm clever enough to figure _this_ out. And also... there is no way you knew I'd follow you, so there is no way all of this," she waved her hands at their surroundings. "Was part of your plans.

The Bull's face twisted in confusion. "Alright, that first part made no sense." he pointed at her face with the fingers that held the cigarette. "And how do you know I didn't know you'd follow me. Not a lot is required to lure innocent girls into lonely roads. All the White Rabbit needed was a waistcoat and an unnatural obsession with time."

"Oh, you're the White Rabbit now?" she said in a mocking tone. He shrugged.

"Maybe. And this." he held up one of the small white pills between the pads of his forefinger and thumb. "Is the key."

"Lets have it then?" Arya said, holding out her hand.

Her ringing phone interrupted whatever it was he was going to say. Arya groaned, reaching for her bag again.

"You should go home kid. Your family's worried."

Arya ignored him, and rejected the call again. "You know, I don't need that pill. I could still follow you." she told him as she fidgeted with her mobile, setting it on silence.

When she turned to him again, he had a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "You're a little pain in the ass, aren't you?"

Arya merely shrugged.

He let the smile slowly convert into a large toothy grin and brought his hand before her face, opening it slowly, exposing both pills.

"You don't have to do this." he said in a low, serious tone that didn't match the smile that had taken over most of his face just seconds ago.

Arya knew he was right.

That had always been the problem with her. She loved challenges. And she loved doing what she was told not to.

That he tried to make her _not t_ake the pill only made her want to take it even more. One day this was going to get her in a lot of trouble. Maybe _that_ day was _today_.

She reached over and carefully pinched one of the pills off his palm, turning it between her fingers to inspect it. It was so, so small. She looked up to meet his eyes, which were on her and without breaking eye contact, she pressed the pill to her tongue, closing mouth around it, gathering saliva in her mouth.

Arya swallowed the pill.

She stuck her tongue out at him, to show him she had done it. He shook his head at her with a smile, popping the other pill into his mouth and dry swallowing it. He stuck his tongue out at her to show her he too had taken it.

"Alright." he said, bringing the cigarette to his lips and taking in a deep drag as he crossed the road to grab a handful of willow tree branches, pulling them back to expose a small, hidden dirt trail that ran along a stone wall for a few kilometers into what looked like private property. "Into the rabbit hole you go." he said.

Arya sighed, adjusting the slipping strap of her bag on her shoulder and tugging down on her red blazer. She crossed the road, ducking under the willow branches as she stepped down onto the dirt trail. Gendry followed her in, letting the branches close behind him.

"Gendry." he said as he walked ahead of her, taking the lead.

"What?"

"That's my name. Gendry."

Gendry. She liked it.

"I'm Arya." she told him.

"Yea." he called back over his shoulder with a smile "I know."

**AN**

**So I said three chapter, but it looks like it will be 4.**

**For those that Stark girl readers who are also reading this... That chapter is coming. It's just becoming a monster of a chapter.**

**So, thanks for all those reviews :) so glad you like this so far. Gendry may feel a bit OCC, while Arya is still her fiesty self. You shall see where this leads :)**

**To that reviewer that liked that I gave Hot Pie a name.. thanks. I just felt he needed one. **

**For those Skins fans reading this, again, Gendry is young in this... 18, only 2 years older than Arya, so... I am picturing Chris... especially with the pills and smoking. **

**Also, Arya's style is ripped off directly from Franky Fitzgerald in series 5 of Skins, cause I love her style so fucking much and Arya can rock it :)**

**thanks again. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Gendry." he said as he walked ahead of her, taking the lead.

"What?"

"That's my name. Gendry."

_Oh. _

Gendry.

She liked it.

"I'm Arya." she told him.

"Yea." he called back over his shoulder with a smile "I know."

Arya's brows twitched. "And how do you know that?"

His footsteps began to slow, so that she was able to catch up to him. They were both walking side by side when he spoke again. "We made headlines today, kid. You and I."

"I'm not a kid. I'm 16. I reckon you're not a day over 18."

"I _am_ 18. And you _are_ a kid. Even if you we're just a day shy from being my same age, you'd still be a kid to me."

Arya rolled her eyes. "That is so stupid and childish."

Gendry chuckled. "Well you're the stupid one. You're the one who's following the childish 18 year old stranger, like you were a lost pup."

"I'm not a lost pup!" Arya snapped up at him, trying to show less offense than she'd taken from his comment. "And I'm _no_t a kid."

"Yea, whatever . . . kid."

She ignored his attempt to anger her. "What's this _headlines_ business? What do you mean we made headlines." Arya changed the topic.

"There is two things the entire school will be yapping about for the rest of the week." he said, holding up two fingers for her to see. "The first is my return," he said bending a finger down, "and the second, how you gave those two girls a nose job. I knew your name way before I even knew what you looked like. You've become quite infamous."

"I don't care." Arya shrugged, glancing away from Gendry and at their surroundings.

On one side was a tall stone wall that divided the glenn from a property. On the other side there was just hills and trees. Way ahead of them, Arya could see a highway. From this distance, the cars driving up and down it looked no larger than insects.

"Where are we going?" she asked, glancing at Gendry out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes fell on the smoke rings he was puffing out rather than his face.

"I have to run an errand." He caught her eyeing the fading smoke rings and held the cigarette to her face. Arya took the it between her two fingers, twisting it until it sat right, and took in a deep drag.

She grabbed a handful of his shirt between her fist as she bent over and went into a fit of violent coughs, struggling for air. A heavy hand began patting at her back and after she finished coughing and was breathing normally again, she straightened herself, letting go of the wrinkled, stretched fabric and wiping at the moister around her eyes.

Gendry shot a smile at her, one eyebrow higher than the other mockingly. "You alright there?" he teased.

"I'm fine." she said, bending over to pick up the cigarette she'd dropped.

"Better give me that." he told her, but she pulled the hand away, and took another drag. The smoke travelled more smoothly down her throat this time. She still coughed, but she felt her throat had relaxed a bit more now.

"So" Arya turned to Gendry. "This errand you're running... what is it?" she took in another drag and savored the taste before she exhaled a thin stream of smoke, reaching at it with one hand to change it's pattern and direction.

"You ask too many questions."

Arya rolled her eyes. "I recall Alice asking questions. In fact the only reason she followed the White Rabbit was to ask him where he was running late to."

"It's just an errand."

"Well, that sounds boring. You know, you're not as mysterious as you think you are."

Gendry chuckled, taking the cigarette from her, which Arya now realized was _definitely_ not tobacco, and placing it between his lips. "Perhaps running errands is boring, but it was intriguing enough for you to follow me." he puffed out a thin row of smoke rings. "If you ask me, you're the boring one; having had nothing better to do than to follow me. And I _don't_ think I'm mysterious."

"Yes you do! You think you have this whole mysterious thing going for you. Going around, causing trouble," she chuckled dryly. "singing self praises of how you beat up some guy. Why _did _you beat him up?"

Gendry stopped on his tracks, turning to her. This time she did flinch. "Why don't you answer a question for a change. Why'd _you_ beat those girls up?"

Arya shook her head. "I asked first. Answer me and i'll answer you."

Gendry sighed, shaking his head at her slightly. " stubborn much?" he turned heading down the trail again. At first Arya though he wasn't going to answer her question, but after a few moments, he spoke. "I don't know why I beat up that boy. I was bored. He was nothing more than a punching bag. I didn't see some bloke, or a coma, or a heartbroken single mother, or hospital bills she couldn't afford. I didn't see any of those things. Because I'm crazy. I'm fucked up . . . they should have never let me out of prison."

Arya shuddered.

When Sansa started dating her first boyfriend a few years back and had come home one afternoon crying after their first fight, Arya recalled how she'd sat cross-legged on the floor of Sansa's bedroom as their mother sat on the bed, Sansa in her arms.

Sansa told them how Joffrey had grown to be so angry and aggressive in the short time they'd been dating and how he'd confessed to her that he really wanted to hurt her sometimes. Their mother had tensed at that, and called Arya up to the bed.

"Listen to me, girls. When a man tells you he will hit you," their mother said, "don't ever doubt he will."

"Joffrey's not a man." Arya had joked.

"I am serious, Arya." her mother had said sternly, and Arya had let her gaze fall and had taken to chew on her lip, a bit embarrassed.

For some reason, that came to mind as she stood there, trying to process what Gendry had just said. _If a man tells you he's crazy, he probably is_. Arya thought.

Looking at Gendry though, she found it difficult to believe, despite his claims, that he was crazy.

"Why'd they let you out then?"

"No. It's my turn." Gendry said. "You have to answer my question now."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know why I, I, I must be crazy or something. I just . . . snapped. Like a twig. You know?"

"Are you mocking me?" Gendry asked with an impish smile. Arya bit her bottom lip, smiling ruefully.

"I need a proper answer. I gave you one."

Arya sighed. "I hit them because they called me a clown." she lied, glancing down at her outfit.

She was wearing an oversized blazer, a dress shirt with a tie, black shorts, tights and white creepers.

"No you didn't" Gendry said offering her the cigarette. She didn't take it.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't beat some chicks up because they made fun of you."

"Yes I did."

"Fine." he said with a chuckle, looking her up and down. "You're a clown. In fact that's the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen. Was that a choice, or does your mum dress you up?"

Arya slammed her palms against his chest, making him take a step back. He laughed. She shoved him again. He took another step back, laughing harder. Arya fumed, curling her left hand into a fist and swinging at his face. He caught it though, no longer laughing.

Arya was breathing hard, trying to pull her hand free. He finally let go, his eyes never leaving hers. "I still don't think you beat them up over that." he said, pushing past her, towards some bushes. They'd reached the end of both, the trail and the wall, coming to a small road that ran to either side of them, parallel to a canal. "Come on." Gendry called to her from the bushes. "We're here." he said, going down on one knee bending into the bushes.

"What are you doing?" she asked, walking up behind him.

Hidden underneath the bushes was a heavy looking sewer lid, which he was lifting up. "Keep a look out." he groaned as he pushed the lid to one side, revealing a metal ladder that went down into the a dark tunnel.

Arya glanced up the trail in the direction they'd come from. And then towards the road that ran along the canal. There was no one.

They were closer to the highway now, and she could hear the distant hiss of tires against the asphalt. The cars still looked like insects though.

"In you go." Gendry said, dusting his hands on his jeans.

"This is where you're running an errand. Who are you meeting?" Arya gaped inside the dark tunnel, her senses suddenly on edge.

"You won't know unless you go in." Gendry said, his eyes not meeting hers, but instead darting back and forth over their surroundings. "Hurry up, will ya." he said with a soft shove, and Arya inhaled and sat on the floor so that her legs dangled inside the hole. She was able to reach the metal ladder and put her entire weight on it, making her way down. The rust from the ladder flaked off, sticking to the palms of her hands and making them smell like coins.

When she made it to the bottom, clapped her hands together to get as much rust off them as she could, and glanced around, managing to catch a glimpse of three dark, damp tunnels with the small amount of light that seeped in though the small holes on the lid way up overhead. Gendry hopped off the ladder, dusting his hands together and walking to the tunnel on the far right.

It was pitch black, and Arya was tempted to pull out her phone to use as a flashlight, but instead ran her fingers along the stone tunnel to keep herself from walking into a wall.

"Is there any rats down here?" she asked after they'd been walking in dark silence for a couple of minutes. She was startled by how different her voice sounded down here.

"Yes. We're meeting a rat. We can climb on it's back and it will take us to a caucus race." Gendry voice come from a completely different direction than she had expected. He was very close to her.

After about another minute of walking, Arya began to hear a low, distant beat. _Music? _

At first she though it might just be her imagination. But as they came closer to wherever it is they were headed to, the drumming grew louder and other instruments could be heard now, as well as drums. It was music. It sounded Arabic.

_Where the hell is this guy taking me?_

"Don't worry." he said, almost as if sensing her. "I'm not taking you to some exotic underground strip club."

Arya didn't say anything.

She noticed how ahead of her, there was a soft glow against the wall. _Light._

When they turned the curve of the tunnel she saw it was a very dim lamp. Dimmer than the light of a dying glow stick. Barely bright enough to expose metal bars.

"Dead end." Arya said. Gendry merely pushed past her and towards the bars. He grabbed them, pulling at them with a grunt. They came loose from one side with an echoing clank and Arya saw that they were hinged to the tunnel wall. She walked inside. It lead to a shorter tunnel that was lined with more dim lamps. Arya could see graffiti on the walls and a few feet ahead of her, a round metal door with a wheel in the middle and a bolt lock on one side. The music, now loud and clear, was coming from behind it.

Gendry pulled out a set of keys unlocking the bolt. He turned the wheel and pulled the door open.

Arya stepped into a well lit dome shaped room with shelves that ran against three of the walls. They were full of what looked like medical supplies.

There was a guy in the middle, in his early 20's, wearing blue hospital scrubs and swaying back and forth along with the Arabic music that filled the air. His eyes were closed and a glass pipe was cradled in his fingers, a thick cloud of smoke around him. From what Arya could tell, he had blonde hair and was very handsome. He danced his way towards a tall girl with very short, blonde hair who was around his same age that wore scrub bottoms and a white muscle shirt, exposing the tattoos that ran up and down her arms. She was leaning over a hibachi grill stirring something in a small pot.

"Smells good." he said into her ear, kissing her exposed neck and sliding a hand under her shirt.

Gendry cleared his throat then.

"Gendry?" the guy asked, blinking though the smoke and pulling his hand out from under the girl's shirt. He set his pipe down on the table and walked up to them, his eyes on Arya the entire time.

"You live down here?" Arya asked the guy in awe. "What is all this stuff?" she turned to the shelves..

"Gendry, what the hell, this isn't a mother fucking tour stop."

"Actually, they do have tours of the Bristol underground tunnels." the tall girl called from the table.

"Yea, and we went though a lot of trouble to find one that wasn't on the tour. We'd like to keep it that way." he glared at Arya.

"I just came to pick up. Give me the what you owe him, and we can be on our way." Gendry said, slightly annoyed.

"Already?" the guy groaned and stepped through a hole, into what looked like another room. Gendry followed him, but Arya stayed behind, glancing around the room. She saw three cots against the wall with no shelves. It was covered by a curtain, which Arya suspected, covered another hole like the one Gendry and the guy in scrubs had stepped into.

There was a small foldable table, a hibachi grill over it and a couple of laptops. An office chair, a cooler, and lots of stacked crates with shoes and personal items in them. Toiletries. Folded clothing. Food. Books. She saw that the source of the music was nothing more than an IPod on it's speaker dock.

Arya was amazed that someone could live underground and wondered how they'd managed to get all of this stuff down here. Most of it looked new. And, despite the fact that they were down in the sewer tunnels, the smell of weed, and food and air freshener was all she could detect. Arya noticed the blonde girl was staring at her.

"How long have you lived down here?" she asked her, trying to make small talk. Now that most of the smoke had settle Arya could see the girl had extraordinary blue eyes and a lip piercing.

The girl considered Arya warily for a few moments before she finally spoke. "I've only lived down here for a little over half a year. They've been here longer though."

"They?" Arya asked, but before the girl could answer, they heard the clash of metal against metal from behind the curtain, and then the sound of high heels making their way towards them.

Suddenly, from behind the curtain, walked in a dark haired girl wearing a red skirt and jacket outfit and carrying a briefcase. She froze at the sight of Arya.

"Who the fuck is this?" she demanded from the tall blonde.

"Arya." Arya said before the tall girl could answer.

_"She's with me!"_ Gendry yelled from the other room.

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and sat down on one of the cots, setting down the briefcase besides her and pulling off her heels. "I though she was another one of Jaime's strays." she said, glancing towards the tall girl through her lashes.

"Fuck you." the blonde told her.

By then Gendry and the guy had stepped back into the room through the hole.

"Jaime could you turn it the fuck down please. I have a headache." the dark haired girl said from the cot, slipping her feet into a pair of house shoes. The guy nodded, crossing to the IPod to turn it off.

"What is wrong with you Gendry? Why the hell did you bring her here?" the brunette asked Gendry, rising from the bed.

"I got what I came here for." Gendry snapped back at her grabbing Arya's hand and pulling her towards the door. "we're leaving."

_"It's down here! Hurry!"_ Arya heard a man voice echoing from behind the curtain near the cots.

Five bodies froze, as five pairs of eyes turned to the curtain.

_"Carl. We're sending units your way." _a woman's voice was heard from what sounded like a portable radio.

"Shit! They found us." Jaime yelled, running towards the curtain and lifting the cots off the floor to block the door.

The girl with short blonde hair ran to one of the crates pulled out a black trash bag and began stuffing it with the medical supplies that were on the shelves.

"This is all your fault!" the brunette pointed at Gendry. Gendry ignored her crossing to grab one of the bags and beginning to fill it with the shelves' contents. Arya grabbed one to, about to go into the room Gendry and the other guy had walked into, when Jaime yelled at her. "No!" he turned to Gendry. "Take her. Get her out of here."

"I can help!" Gendry yelled back.

"You've helped enough!" the brunnette yelled.

"Cersei, shut the fuck up and grab a bag." the girl with blonde hair shouted, and the brunette did as she was told.

"We can help." Arya told Jaime.

_"This is the police! We know you are in there. Come out with your hands up. You're surrounded."_

"Get her out of here." Jaime told him, taking the bag from Gendry hand.

The police was already kicking against the piled cots. The girls had already packed all of the supplies on the shelves in this room and had moved to packing up their clothes and laptops.

"Go!" Jaime shoved Gendry back, and Gendry nodded, taking Arya's hand and pulling her towards the door. She pulled away. "We can't just leave them here!" she yelled at Gendry.

"Just leave it! Go! Get out of here!" Jaime yelled at both girls, ripping the bags from their hands and tossing them against the wall. He lifted a gallon from the floor, dumping it's contents all over their belongings.

"No!" one of the girls yelled. But Jaime ignored her, striking lighter to life and throwing it over their stuff. It all went up in flames.

Gendry grabbed her arm again, his grasp like iron, ignoring her attempts to pull free.

"Lock up behind you, Gendry!" Jaime called from somewhere in the room, but flames had swallowed half of the room, and smoke the other half, and Arya couldn't see Jaime or the girls anymore.

Gendry pushed her out the door, slamming it closed, bolting and locking it like Jaime asked.

"You can't leave them!" Arya tugged at Gendry's sleeve.

"Run!" he yelled, his face so close to hers that she felt his breath against her skin. And then she was being dragged down the dark tunnel by her arm.

They were running, but still, the time it took them to reach the ladder seemed to have doubled, if that was even possible.

When they finally made it, Arya could have sworn she heard distant sirens outside.

Her heart was hammering against her ribcage as she breathlessly stumbled up the ladder, feeling her tights rip as they grazed against the bars.

Gendry was pressed right behind her by the time she reached the top, and with one hand, pushed the lid aside.

She could hear them better now. The sirens. They were not far.

"Go. Go." he let out in a rushed voice, pushing her out. She crawled out of the hole, rolling on her side in the dirt.

"Come on!" he urged him once he was on his feet, holding out a hand for her. She took it and he pulled her off the floor and towards the road that ran along the canal. The police sirens were growing louder with each passing moment. Arya and Gendry only managed to cross far as the road before they had to hide behind the shrubs that grew on the banks of the canal. A police car sped up the road, towards them, turning into the the trail and stopping in front of the open sewer lid. Arya noticed there was two officers in the car.

"We have to make a run for it." Gendry whispered into her hair.

The moist ground beneath them was crumbling, and the shrubs were too narrow. If the officers even though of glancing their way, they would notice them.

"We can't out run them." Arya whispered back.

"We can if we wait for them to exit the car. Maybe."

As if on cue, the doors on either side of the car opened, and the officer's stepped out.

"Wait." Gendry said, the hand that was on her shoulder giving her a light squeeze. When the men were finally infront of the sewer hole, Gendry huffed an almost inaudiable "go" in her ear, and they sprung to their feet, running up the road and away from the dirt trail, the sewer tunnel, and the officers. There was nothing but road ahead of them, with a canal on one side, trees on the other.

"Oi!" Arya heard one of the officers yell.

"Shit!" she shrieked, in half excitement and half terror.

"Run Arya!" Gendry yelled besides her, quickening his pace.

She heard the peep of the siren and the car engine spark to life.

"There's a lake up ahead!" Gendry called back to her. "We have to jump."

"What!?"

"Jump!" Gendry said, cutting across the road into some trees. Arya followed him, coming onto a small, makeshift pier that sat over a lake that stretched before them. Large, and wide and blue.

"I can't swin!" Arya cried out when Gendry grabbed her hand and made his way down the pier, pulling her along with him. The sirens were growing louder. "Gendry, I can't sw..." her words turned into a scream as she flew onto the water. She didn't scream for long though, because her mouth filled with water as they sunk down, deep into the lake.

Arya began to panic, moving her searching hands on her sides frantically, trying to grab ahold of something. Anything. She opened her eyes, but all she saw was dark green. Dark green all around. Disoriented, and choking on water, she tried to figure out which way was up. Her bag was heavy on her arm, so she pulled the strap off her shoulder, watching as it sunk into the darkness. _So that's down_. She began to swim opposite of her sinking bag, but something caught her foot. Vegetation perhaps.

When she turned to reach down, she was able to see the dark outline of Gendry's body below her. It was his hand around her foot.

She tried to kick her leg free, but instead was pulled down even deeper into the lake, water shooting up her nose, choking and making her chest feel as though it was about to explode. She clawed at her throat, the last of her oxygen bursting out from her lips as she parted them in a panicked scream.

That's when she felt two hands grab hold of her face and a pair of lips press to hers. It was Gendry. A rush of air from his mouth filled hers. Warm, thick air, that tasted like cigarettes and chewing gum.

Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders. It was the strangest feeling in the world. Breathing through another person, nothing above, below or around them but water.

When he finally pulled away, it was because he was making his way up, to the surface again, his hand in hers.

They both came up, coughing, and spurting water from their mouths.

Arya could feel the roof of her mouth throbbing, and her chest heaving for air.

Gendry grabbed a handful of her wet sleeve and began pulling her. "Kick your feet." he spat out, face halfway in the water. And she did.

They made it to the banks of the lake and crawled out slowly on hands and knees, weighed down by their wet clothes. "Up there!" Gendry groaned out, and they half crawled, half walked all the way up a slope and into the trees until they were hidden from view. They were several meters away from the pier and the road now.

Arya peeped though the trees and towards the road. She could see no cops anywhere along the length of the lake.

"I think we lost them." Gendry said after he'd caught his breath.

"Do you think your friends made it out?" Arya peeled her blazer off. Goose-prickles were visible through the wet fabric of her shirt running up and down her arms. She could feel her breast's reaction to the cold water as well, and felt herself blush, turning away from Gendry as she twisted the water out of her blazer.

"They're not my friends." Gendry told her. Arya turned her head to him. "But I hope they made it out. They were good people." he added, wiping his hair from his face with a wet sleeve." We should go. More cops will be coming soon. That asshole started a fire down there."

Arya followed him clumsily through the trees. Her clothes were still soaked and her feet sloshed and slipped wetly inside her shoes. "Who were they?" she called to him

"Shhhhh." he called over his shoulder softly and turned forwards again, picking up the pace. Arya could hear the very distant sirens now. But they'd left the road and lake far behind them now and she didn't feel in as much danger anymore. They were nearing another road now. A main road by the sound of it. Gendry was the first to walk out of the trees. He cross the road, towards a bus station. Arya dragged her feet, always a few feet behind him. Her muscles were stiff with cold and exhaustion.

"Jaime, the guy, and Cersei." Gendry said once they where on a bus and had seated themselves towards the back. Arya's head snapped from the window and to his face, her brows furrowing in confusion. "The tunnel people . . . Cersei... she was the bitchy one with dark hair. Jaime, the bloke. They're twins."

Arya tried to remember their faces, finding no similarities. "They didn't look like twins."

"Perhaps the hair. She dyed it brown. They're are on the run."

"From?"

"Their father. He tried marrying her off a few years back. He's a rich prick; she was his pawn in a business deal. She wouldn't have it though, so she ran, and Jaime followed. They moved to London, but he traced them. So they moved here, started living underground. That was over a year ago. Jaime works at the hospital. Cersei sells health insurance to the elderly folk. When she saw some of them were being taken advantage of by the insurance, she convinced Jaime to steal from the hospital, and she would sell what he stole to her clients at half the price."

"Like, black market medications."

"Exactly. Brienne works at the hospital too. She's in charge of stock. Jaime would steal maybe one item every other week, but she still found out. He was honest with her. Told her the whole truth, and oddly, she decided to help out, making sure to always order a few extras here and there, but always off record. They started dating soon after that, and he asked her to move in when the lease on her flat ended about six months ago."

Arya's brows were high on her forehead. her bottom lip worried against her teeth. That was one of the most incredible stories Arya had heard.

"Are you judging them?" Gendry asked when she hadn't said anything for a long while.

"No!" Arya snapped at him. "I think what they did is amazing. They're brave."

"Stupid. But brave." Gendry agreed with a chuckle, messing up her drying hair roughly. "Like you." Arya squirmed under his hand and elbowed him playfully.

_Shit. _

_I like him_.

They hopped off the bus on the next stop and walked the rest of the way to the Blue Reef aquarium. By then, their clothes were semi dry. Gendry paid both their tickets and told the girl in the booth to tell "Him" that he was here with a delivery, and led the way until they came inside the walkthrough tunnel.

Arya hadn't been to an aquarium in years.

She walked up and down, admiring the fish in silence, wishing she knew more about them. "I like fish." she said, placing her palm against the glass and watching as nearby fish swam away.

"It sucks you can't swim then, cause, scuba diving is, like, sick. You'd like it. A hundred times better than this."

She turned to Gendry who was leaning against the glass near the end of the tunnel. Being in here made everything look blue. Even his skin. He was toying around with what remained of his joint, Rolling the damp paper carefully.

Her thoughts trailed to earlier today, in the lake. When he'd pressed his lips to her to give her a bit of air. When she caught herself staring at his face too long, she looked away and back to the fish.

"It lives!" he said with triumphantly, with chuckle and Arya didn't have to turn to him to know he was referring to his spliff. She smiled.

She heard the flick of a lighter, and then soon after that the sweet smell of the cigarette smoke reached her nose.

Her eyes were fixed on a lonely mandarin fish, when Gendry spoke again.

"You're fucking beautiful, you know that?" he told her boldly. Arya felt her whole back tense. She screwed her face in a grimace, keeping her eyes on the colorful fish. "No. I'm not."

Gendry chuckled dryly. "Ya, you are." he said, clearly annoyed. Arya wasn't sure if it was her or himself he was annoyed at, and she didn't get a chance to find out, because a man walked in then, stomping his way towards Gendry and grabbing him by the shoulder roughly.

"You want to get me fired, boy? Turn that shit off!" the man snarled, dragging Gendry out of the tunnel.

Arya stood frozen and startled for a few seconds before following after them, out the tunnel, down a small, dark corridor and into a small room that read "Staff Only" on the door.

The room was dark, lit only by the blue screensaver of a computer.

"The police found Jaime's tunnel." Gendry was saying as Arya walked in, unnoticed by both men.

"Yea, well, poor sod. You have it?" the man said, and Gendry slid his hand into his pocket.

That's when the man turned and noticed her, and she noticed, even in the soft blue light, that an entire side of his face was wrinkled and red.

_Burned._

"_Who_ are _you_? This is Staff Only, get out!"

"I'm Arya."

"She's with me." Gendry said at the same time, and placed four smalls bottles with clear liquid on the desk.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Why is she here?" the man shook head and crossed to a pair of lockers in one corner of the small room and slipped his key into one. When he walked back from the lockers, it was with a red backpack in hand. He shoved it at Gendry. "Now get the hell out of here." he barked, glaring rudely at Arya.

She glared right back, flaring her nostrils.

"Come on." Gendry crossed to her.

"You better watch yourself, little girl." the burned man sneered at her. "You play with fire, you get burned."

"You would know." Arya snapped. The man lurched himself towards her, but Gendry slipped in front of her, coming between the burned man and Arya. They exchanged hard, intense look.

Besides the man, Gendry looked dwarfed. Behind Gendry, Arya felt like a speck on the floor. She wasn't afraid of that man though.

"You keep that bitch away from here, or else you find yourself another dealer."

Gendry said nothing. He just grabbed Arya's arm tightly and pulled her out of the room.

"What's in the bag?" she asked curiously, once they were outside the building.

"Come." Gendry said instead of answering, and walked towards a bike rack.

"What are you doing?" Arya whispered when she'd come up besides him. She heard a _click _and then the bike lock fell to the floor.

"Stealing it." he shouldered the red bag and mounted the bike. For a second, Arya thought he meant to leave her, but then he turned to her with one of his impish smiles. "Hop on." he patted the handlebar and winked at her.

Arya rolled her eyes and shook her head at herself, crossing to the bike.

He kept the bike as still as he could while she climbed up and sat herself on the handlebar. It was awkward at first, as she tried to balance herself on the bar, a pain stabbing her abs with the effort. But then Gendry sped several hills and that forced her to lean back against him, taking a bit of strain off her muscles.

"Relax kid. I don't bite." he said next to her face, his cheek almost touching hers. Arya scoffed, mostly at herself for getting startled, and turned her head just enough to see the smirk across his face out of the corner of her eye.

Her clothes were almost fully dry now, and by the time they made it out of the city, they were completely dry. Stiff. But dry. Only by lush, green hills of farmland surrounded them now, a house visible here and there. The skies were beginning to darken and the clouds were visibly heavier, their bellies sagging with water. She heard the clap of thunder from not too far ahead.

"I think it's going to rain." she said. Gendry merely nodded and pedaled didn't make it far before another, much louder and much closer thunder clap made Gendry brake the bike suddenly, nearly sending her flying off the bar.

"What?" she asked turning to him. He parted his lips, about to speak, but a thunder cut him off and rain fell on them like a bucket full of water. Heavy, hard and unexpectedly.

Arya gasped out. It was freezing.

They both jumped off the bike and Gendry left it at the side of the road, where a puddle was already beginning to form.

"Come on!" he yelled through the rain and pointed to an old barn house not too far from the road.

They ran across the field towards. Over water. Muddy, grassy water. Gendry was far ahead of her, but slipped, his face landing on a brown puddle. Arya's head fell back and she let out a huge guffaw, and large rain drops fell in her open mouth as she ran past him, leaving him to struggle with the slippery mud below him.

When she finally reached the barn though, it was locked. "Crap!" she yelled, yanking at it. She turned. There was a small cottage across a lawn, but it looked as though no one was home, and the lawn between the barn and the cottage had turned into a brown sea.

Gendry came up besides her, mud clinging onto his shoulders and hair.

"Locked." she yelled over the loud sound of rain pattering on the barn house. Arya kicked the door a few times until Gendry pulled her back with a laugh.

"I saw a window." he told her and she followed him around the barn and looked up. in the direction he pointed. It was high, but Gendry gave her a lift and she managed to find a footing and climb onto the porch roof and towards the small window. The barn house was old, as was the glass. Arya slipped a show off and threw it through the glass. It broke easily, in a few large pieces, bringing a smile from Arya. She loved the sound of breaking glass.

Careful to avoid the jagged edges, she reached in and grabbed onto a post, limberly climbing inside, putting all her weight on a girt.

The loft wasn't too far down and she jumped, landing on it on all four. She ran to the stairs, slipping her foot in her shoe on the way to them, and took them down two at a time until she came to one of the smaller side doors and tugged at the bolt.

When she pulled the door, Gendry was already standing outside of it. He slipped inside, hair and clothes dripping in water. His shirt clung to his chest and outlined the corded muscle of his arms and chest and Arya realized her clothed clung to her too, so she turned away, pulling the wet material off her breasts, where it clung the most.

"We'll have to wait out the rain." Gendry said behind her. She nodded, looking around the barn house. It was old, in need of desperate repair in more than one area, but clean. Extremely clean. Not a cobweb in sight or a tool out of place. The stables held animals, but their scent didn't overpower the air. Gendry found a pile of straw and fell back on it, sighing with pleasure.

"Come sit." he called to her patting the spot besides him.

It poked though her clothes in some places, but it was comfortable and she found she liked the smell. She turned on her side, her body facing Gendry, and he did the same.

"So is this where you bring all the girls to gang rape them?"

His smile reached his eyes, but when he spoke his tone was sinister. "You're still not afraid of me, are you?"

"No." her tone met his. "I never was."

His eyes fell to her lips then, and he swallowed, making Arya suddenly conscious of their proximity. "Are you sure?" he asked softly, the straw stirring under him as he leaned in a bit closer.

_He's going to kiss me_. The realization made Arya nearly spring off the straw in panic and opposition. His charm were not going to work on her. She wouldn't allow it.

She was about to tell him so, but instead, both their heads snapped to the door behind them as they heard the jingle of keys.

"Shit!" Gendry mouthed at her as she pushed herself off the straw. They tiptoed towards one of the stables slipped inside, coming besides a horse that huffed out nervously at the sight of them. The barn door opened then, and Arya saw they'd left a trail of straw behind them. Whomever walked in would see it.

"Who's in here?" a woman's voice called out suspiciously. The horse neighed besides them and Gendry's hand clamped over her mouth, and he pulled her away from the creature and to a corner in the stable.

"I want no trouble." the woman called, and Arya heard the cock of a rifle. She took in a sharp breath, but Gendry pressed his lips against her ear and whispered a soft, long "shhh".

The woman's steps were closer now, and it wouldn't take long before she reached them, so Arya thought of nothing better to do than step out before someone got shot. She elbowed Gendry's belly and slipped free of his grasp.

"We're in here." she said, pulling the stable door open, and holding her hands up as she stepped out. "We were just trying to get out of the rain. We're sorry." she told the woman. She was old. Early 70's perhaps. With curls of of grey hair framing her plump face from underneath the hood of her rain coat. She looks absurd, standing a few inches shorter than Arya and wearing a flowery rain cloak and red galoshes, her chubby finger ready at the trigger, her brow's set in a frown.

When Gendry stepped out behind Arya though, the frown faded and the hand holding the rifle fell to her side.

"Gendry!" she snapped at him. "Did you forget your keys again?" She said turning her back to them and setting the rifle down on a work table

"Yes." he said sounding a bit embarrassed. Arya turned to him, eyes wide and demanding.

"You know her?"

"Of course he does. He's my grandson." the woman said with a smile, catching a good look at Arya's state. "You two are drenched. You must get out of those clothes before you catch your death. I'll bring you something dry to slip into." and to Gendry she said. "You're late."

Gendry snorted softly inside his mouth, and it took Arya a while to realize what was so funny.

"I'll make some tea so you can warm you up and get going. Would you like that, love," she asked Arya. "Nice cup of tea?"

The woman walked out of the barn before Arya could answer. It was no longer raining.

Gendry met Arya's eyes briefly before crossing to a cupboard in one corner and pulling out a black jumper.

"She's your grandmother." Arya said sourly, her eyes narrowing at him. Gendry nodded with a blank face and suddenly, unexplained rage boiled up inside her. "All those Alice in Wonderland references. Tea? Running late? The twins . . . . . _The rat and the caucus race_," she said, lowering her voice and trying to mimick his accent. "The pills. This is all some mind twisty bull shit game right? Some way for you to pick up girls?"

Gendry rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a prick, Arya. _You_ followed _me_, remember?" he spat out, pulling off his shirt over his head. His torso was well formed, and Arya's eyes snapped away quickly before he noticed her staring. "_You_ came with _me_. I never wanted you to come, you're the one that followed me out of school, and you're the one that took the pill, and you could have turned and walked away at any time, Arya. I told you I was fucked up, and you still came. This isn't fucking Wonderland, you're not Alice, and I am not the White Rabbit." he slipped the jumper over his head, slipping his hands in the sleeves angrily.

"You're right." Arya said. "I'm leaving. Goodbye, Bull, Gendry, or whatever the fuck your name is." and with that she stormed for the door.

When she stepped out of the barn though, her shoe sank ankle deep into the large mud puddle right outdside the door. She tried to pull it out, but only managed to loose her balance, and fell on her ass, splashing mud onto her clothes and face.

"Fuck!" she whispered, tugging at her stuck leg with her hands.

"Need a hand?" Gendry asked from the door. She didn't need to look at him to know he was smiling. His arms were probably crossed over his chest in gusto.

"No." she said through clenched teeth, tugging at her leg once more.

"Defeats the purpose don't it. Throwing a girlish tantrum but not achieving to storm off and slam a door behind you in an oh _so_ badass way. I must say though, mud becomes you. You look like a little piggy."

Arya grabbed a handful of mud and flung it at him.

It slammed right on his face.

She chortled with a loud snort as he wiped it off with his fingers.

"You even sound like a pig." he said, face brown with mud.

"Looks better on you actually." Arya smiled up at him. "You're pretty hot when you can't see your face."

"Heavens above!" Gendry's grandmother called from across the lawn as the spring door to her small cottage slammed behind her. "Gendry, get her out of that mud!"

"Of course." he said, reaching out to offer Arya a hand. She took it, but instead of pulling herself free from the mud, she pulled Gendry down.

He fell on his side with a grunt, and Arya grabbed more mud, slamming it on his face once more. The mud parted where his mouth was, and he took in a deep breath, reaching out blinding until he grabbed Arya's shoulder and pulled her to him, rolling over her so he had her pinned on her back.

"Gendry!" his grandmother yelled in disapproval, but he ignore her, smearing mud all over Arya's face and chest. She shrieked, trying to squirm away, but he was too strong.

"Gendry, you stop that right now! She's a young lady!"

"No she's not. She's a little piggy!" Gendry said. "RIght, piggy? Snort for me piggy."

"You're the pig!" Arya growled up at him, twisting under him and kicking fruitlessly against his legs. It only made him laugh, which in turn made her angrier, so she began trying to head butt him, but all she managed to do was splash his already muddy face with mud from her hair.

She finally bent one of her legs, hitting him right between his legs, and he moaned out, face twisting in pain as he fell to one side.

Arya began to push herself off the swallowing ground, the mud making a wet sound when her body finally came free, and she began crawling away from Gendry. By then, Gendry had mildly recovered though, and had caught her leg by the ankle, pulling her towards him.

"No!" she cried out, trying to kick him with her other leg..

But then a potent blast of cold water hit her back with force, brushing quickly away from her and at Gendry, then back at her.

Both of them twisted under it, choking, as it began to wash the mud off them. From what Arya could see, the attacker was Gendry's grandmother. She was holding a heavy water hose with both hands.

When the water finally stopped, she dropped the hose besides her, brushing back a grey curl from her face. "Tea . . . is ready." she said breathlessly. " and I don't want a single drop of mud on my floors. I left dry clothes for you on the fence. Don't keep me waiting." she told them, and turned, marching for the door.

Arya and Gendry exchanged a brief look before he stood, wiping his hand on his dirty jeans before offering it to Arya. This time, she took it and pulled herself to her feet.

"I think I should leave."

"I don't think you should. She looked . . . pretty pissed."

"Exactly."

Gendry chuckled. "Afraid of a little old granny?"

Arya made a face. "No."

Gendry smiled. " Come one then." he said, mussing her muddy hair. She smiled, rolling her eyes. But again, she followed him.

**AN**

**Yay! FInally. **

**First of all, thank you all so much. This story has received a lot of love. There is a certain "guest" reviewer that just broke my heart and checked in every other day and left a review. You know who you are darling, and I'm sorry I've kept you waiting so long. **

**Again, this story is for the lovely Grace, "magicmyth83"**

**This chapter was longer, but I've decided to cut it here, because it felt right to cut, therefore, the next one isn't the last one. There's two more left. **

**I hope you all catch the little hidden references here and there. I'm enjoying this fic, and the way these two go at each other. Review. Tell me what you think. Tell me what you love and what you don't :)**


	4. Chapter 4

A swirl of creamy white and auburn danced inside the cup as Gendry's grandmother poured tea into the milk. Arya stirred the liquid and smiled up at the old lady as way of thanking her.

"Gendry!" Ruth called up the stairs.

There was no answer.

"Oh, that boy." she shook her head disapprovingly and smiled down at Arya. "Biscuits?" one plump, wrinkled hand held open a glass jar and Arya reached in and took a handful. She hadn't realized until just now, how hungry she was.

"Thank you." Arya smiled again and leaned over the steaming cup in front her, taking in the aroma. She shuddered with pleasure. Her bones were still chilled from the rain, and the cold mud, and the hose down Ruth had given both Gendry and her earlier, when they had wrestled in the mud like a couple of immature savage children.

"Dress suits you." Ruth noted and took the seat across from Arya as she began to prepare her own tea.

Arya stuffed a biscuit whole in her mouth and looked down at herself.

The dress Gendry's grandmother left out in the trunk of the truck outside of the small cottage for her was sleeveless, so the goose prickles that ran all along Arya's arms were in plain sight.

The style and cut of the blue, pinstripe dress was very early 1990's and looked like it had once belonged to a girl in her mid teens. After the hose down, Arya had found a tall rose bush around the corner of the cottage to hide behind and began to peel off her muddy clothes, very aware of Gendry, just a few feet away, stripping naked himself, behind the truck. Ruth took her clothes and tossed them in the washer, even after Arya suggested they just throw them in the rubbish bin.

"You're so pretty though. Anything suits a pretty girl like yourself." Ruth smirked and took a sip of her tea. Arya forced a smile, idly tucking a stiff strand of hair behind her ear.

Her hair was _almost_ dry, hanging hard and crusted with mud around her face. She desperately needed a shower. Her entire body was itchy and layered with mud; even in places that had not been exposed to mud. Gendry had stepped upstairs to shower, but all Arya had managed in the small downstairs restroom, was to wash her hands and face.

"Don't you worry about your pretty things. I'll have the mud out of them in no time. Your shoes too. Mud and I go a long way. Raise a boy and that's all he ever brings home after a long day out in the field. Mud. Mud, mud, mud." she gave Arya a sudden, curious smile. "This is the first time Gendry brings someone over for me to meet." she took another ginger sip of her tea. "Have you known him long?"

Arya bit her lip. "I don't think he intended for us meet." she said as politely as she could, softening the confession with a smile. "And I've only known him a day. Just today. We met today."

The woman's forehead creased. "I see."

Arya took a sip of her own tea.

"Well you could have fooled me. You two seemed, very familiar." Ruth forced a small laugh.

"I'm sorry. That was my fault. He teased me, and I just ...lost it."

Ruth chuckled sincerely at that. "And ...you two met...?"

"At college."

"He went." she seemed both surprised and pleased. "That's good. Well... he likes you. Gendry doesn't make friends, so something about you struck his fancy."

Arya clenched and unclenched her teeth. _Just bite your tongue! _She mentally berated herself. "Well, you see. I don't know if you can call us _friends_. Not exactly. You see, I sort of _followed_ him." _Shit!_ She had not intended to put so much emphasis on the word follow. "He left school early, and I... skipped class to run after him. I was . . ." _Just shut up already!_ " curious about . . . something." she sighed, frustrated at herself.

The expression on the woman's face was unsurprised and knowing. "The rumours."

This was so fucking embarrassing. "Yes." she bit her lip again. Hard.

"You know," Ruth began sadly, "he's not a bad person. He's just had a rough life."

Arya eyes met Ruth's blue ones.

Her face was old and wrinkled, with freckles peppered across her nose and cheeks, but her eyes were bright, almost youthful, and the same shade of blue as Gendry's. "What happened to him?"

"What always happens." Ruth smiled sadly. "A couple of teens fuck up, and are left with a child. They were clueless about how to raise him. They would drink what little money they made away and Gendry's father would beat my daughter. By the time Gendry was 10 his father was already in jail, and a year after that, my daughter passed away. Cirrhosis of the liver. I _always_ told Gendry, _just because your father was a bad person, it doesn't mean you are. Just because he beat your mum, it don't mean you should beat others. All the things you saw as a child don't give you an excuse to behave the same way. You should learn from their mistakes_ . . . ." the woman sighed, taking another sip. "But it's not often teens heed the words of their elders."

Arya gaze fell to her tea. She didn't know what to say. She'd been stupid to follow him. She had no right; sticking her nose in other people's business. Her curiosity was now completely replaced but regret and shame. _I should leave_. She thought, and opened her mouth, about to thank the woman for the tea and dry clothes and excuse herself, when Gendry walked down the stairs, in black jeans and an open vest over nothing.

"What are you two ladies chit-chattering on about?" he snatched a biscuit off of Arya's plate with a quick, impish smile her way before turning to his grandmother. He pressed a kiss on the lady's forehead and picked up the cup of tea in her small hands, emptying it out in his mouth.

"Mud." Ruth smiled up at her grandson. His brows shot up in his forehead at her answer.

"Fascinating." he muttered out sarcastically.

"I was just telling Arya I'll have her clothes mud free soon." she turned to Arya. "Mud and I go a long way. Raise a boy and that's all he ever brings home after a long day out in the field. Mud. Mud, mud." she repeated her word from their earlier conversation, and Arya wondered if she forgot she had already said them. "I know how to take mud out of denim, cotton, flannel, canvas, straw, hair, ears, nostrils. Mud under nails. Inside ass cracks."

Arya snorted at that, taking another sip from her tea. "Cracks?"

"Gendry loved playing naked in the mud when he was a toddler."

Gendry let out a mirthless laugh, never meeting Arya's eyes. "O..k..." he shook his head at his grandmother, clearly embarrassed.

"It's true. He used to pretend he was a baker and made me the sweetest mud cakes. Decorated them with all sorts of things. Pebbles and blades of grass and little blossoms and chopped up twigs. I never understood why you insisted on doing it naked though. I swear, I'd find dirt in his crack days after. Oh, he had the cutest butt too."

"Yea. I'm leaving now." Gendry turned for the door, but not before Arya noticed his face had turned a deep red.

"You're blushing!" she accused him evilly.

"And deliberately giving us his back so you can check his bum out." Ruth added. "Still cute wouldn't you say Arya?"

"Not nearly as cute as yours, nan." Gendry retorted to the old lady, saving Arya from having to avoid answering the question. He pushed the spring door open and turned Arya. "You coming, or what?" he asked her before stepping out, letting it slam against it's frame.

"You can slip into my rainboots there" Ruth pointed to a pair by the door. "Will you stay for tonight?"

"Tonight?" Arya downed the rest of her now cold tea and crossed to the boots.

"I'll let Gendry tell you about it." the woman smiled. Arya slipped her feet into the boots and stepped outside.

She found Gendry up in the loft of the barn house across the field, balancing himself on one of the rails as he set up a light bar from two of the rafters. "Disappointed?" he called down when he noticed her. "That I'm a simple farmboy, and not something more... dangerous."

"Farms are dangerous." she shrugged. He chuckled humourlessly. "I should probably head home." she told him.

Gendry jumped off the rail and made his way down the stairs. "Hand me the black extension from inside that box there." he pointed to the case behind her, ignoring what she'd just said.

"My phone is at the bottom of that lake," Arya crossed to the large equipment case and lifted the lid. "I'm sure my family is worried." She met Gendry in the middle of the stairway and held up the cable for his approval. Their eyes met. "Your grandmother told me." she uttered out hesitantly. She had to apologize for prying before she left. "About your parents. Gendry, I-"

Gendry snatched the cable from her hands. "Who the fuck do you think you are!?" he whispered through clenched teeth, bringing his face close to hers. "You stay out of my fucking business! Savvy?"

Arya shoved him away. "Don't talk to me like that." she warned him. "I was t_rying_ to apologize!"

He chuckled dryly, and rolled his eyes. Arya's narrowed with anger.

"You keep going on about how _I f_ollowed _you_ here, but you _let_ me follow you! You brought me here! I didn't ask you to bring me here! Did I?! At any moment, you could have dumped me. You pulled out the second pill, remember? You were pedaling the bike here! So bull shit, Gendry! Bull shit if you think you can get angry at me, when... "

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Arya's head snapped to the door, trailing off mid sentence.

Two men, one young and one in his mid 50's stood side by side over the threshold if the barn door. For a very _long _second, no one said a thing.

Finally, the younger guy gestured towards Arya. "This your bird?" he smiled and stepped into the barn, followed by the older man. Arya could see a third guy, standing outside the barn, arms crossed over his chest, eyes bored and and heavy lidded; staring off to the side.

"She's no one. She was just leaving." Gendry glared at her meaningfully and gestured to the door with a stiff nod of his head before jogging down the rest of the stairs and walking to the table. Both men had to turn their backs to Arya in order to face him. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Gendry demanded dryly, and Arya noticed something in his expression and stature that she had not seen in the few hours she had known him. Unease. He was trying too hard to hide it though, and if Arya could see it, so could this dodgy pair. "_I_ come to _you_. Always! Remember? Besides,: Gendry shifted his weight defiantly. "Duke gave me an extension date."

"Yes. You have an extension." the younger guy agreed. "You don't have to remind us of that. It's our job to know. You have until tomorrow morning." he took a step forward, coming inches away from Gendry. He leaned in so close, that from where Arya stood, it looked like he was about to kiss him.

Gendry didn't flinch though, or try to take a step back. Arya noticed his hands curled into fists at his sides, and her body responded with vigilance. "Perhaps a little reminder is in order." the guy's hand turned to one side with a forced smile and if Arya had blinked, she would have missed his fist swinging into Gendry's stomach.

"What are you doing?" Arya started running towards Gendry as he fell to his knees and let out a pained groan, but the second man caught her just as she jumped off the last step. "Let go of me!" she growled, wriggling violently in his arms until she finally elbowed his gut. His grasp loosened and Arya's feet were on the floor again. She whirled to face him and punched him on the jaw. He stiffled a hiss and pressed a fingertip to his lip with an eerie smile.

"Consider yourself reminded." the younger guy spat at Gendry and trotted out the door, leaving the two men followed after him like worthless dogs.

Arya stared after them, flustered and a bit out of sorts, until she heard shriek of car brakes and the hiss of tires driving off Ruth's long, dirt driveway.

"What the hell was that about?" Arya turned to Gendry with her throbbing fist cradled in her hand. Her knuckles were red and beginning to swell. Gendry shook his head and stumbled to his feet with a curse. He smaked the straw off his jeans and wiped the back of his hand against his lip.

"Nothing." he offered curtly.

"_Liar_.That was _not_ nothing! Random guys don't hit you for _nothing_!"

"It doesn't matter." he insisted, sounding slightly annoyed. "Follow me."

Arya rolled her eyes with a sigh, but followed him to the back of the barn house, where the stable stalls were lined besides the pile of straw from earlier.

When she came beside him, he pointed to a wine coloured horse on the first stall. It's snout was white as was the tip of one of it's ears.

"This," Gendry beamed proudly; blue eyes fixed on the sturdy looking animal. "is Porygon. Next to her is Mew and her sister Mewtwo is in the third stall. The tall, fierce black one in the fourth stall is Jillypuff." he crossed to the last stall on the right, skipping the two empty ones that followed Jillypuff and pointed at the beast inside it. This horse stood taller than the other four; even taller than Jillypuff, and was spotted like a Dalmation

"This is Lewis. King Lewis. He is an old grump, so you have to be gentle." Gendry stretched his arm in to cup the tip of the horse's muzzle tenderly.

Arya's head snapped from the horse to Gendry. "Gentle? What do mean _be_ gentle?"

The sound of a car pulling up outside, cut off whatever Gendry was going to say next. A car horn rang twice and he sprinted for the door.

"There's some stables behind the cottage." he called out to her. "They'll practically lead the way, just open the stalls for them and lock up after them. I have to finish here, I'm already running behind schedule."

"Behind schedule for what?" Arya asked, but Gendry was already out the door. She turned to Lewis with a frown and scratched her muddy head with frustration. She needed a bath. She needed to go home. She did not need to escort some horses to their stables.

But she would do it anyway. She wouldn't go home and she would stay and walk Porygon, Mewtwo and Lewis and the rest of them to their stalls. Because she wanted to. She was intrigued by Gendry, and she was rarely intrigued by anything or anyone. She decided she liked being intrigued and she welcomed the curiosity and pushed the though to go home aside. It was her one true fault; having an insatiable curiosity. "You bite me, I bite back!" she warned the spotted horse before she unlocked the stall and cupped it's nose carefully just like Gendry had. It's skin had such a strange texture, but she liked it, feeling the smile creep across her face.

Gendry had been right. Lewis lead the way to the stables and picked a stall to step into. Gendry and two other guys were unloading crates of beer from the back of a white van when Arya returned to the barn for Jillypuff.

The horse that gave her the most trouble was Mewtwo. Arya had trouble getting her out of the stall and as the walked over the muddy trail between the barn house and the back stabled. the large beast knocked Arya in the back of the head a few times with it's great, bit nose.

As she was securing the last of the horses in, the bassy beats of housemusic could be heard booming through the stable walls. Arya stepped out into the night and threaded through the mud and grass in Ruth's rainboots. The glimmer of windshields in the distance caught her eye and she could make out the outline of a car and a few trucks lined side by side near barn house.

There was a few people inside, drinks in hand, and a guy up in the loft helping Gendry with a large strobe light. The barn looked nothing like it had earlier. There was large speakers on either side of the loft and a makeshift bar right outside the main doors.

"What is this?" Arya asked Gendry as she climbed up the stairs.

"I DJ twice a week." he tossed something to her before crossing to a table on the back of the loft. Arya caught it mid air and turned it in her hands. It was a black leather mask. It had metal bars across a mouth piece and a pair of leather horns protruding out of the head of the mask. She ascended up the rest of the steps and turned to Gendry in disbelief.

"You're a DJ?"

"What's so surprising about that?"

Arya inspected the mask once again. "Horns?"

"Yes. I'm _The Bull,_ remember? No one knows I do this. It's better this way. I'm like a super hero... a music super hero... without the saving... just... the mask."

Arya snorted. "And this is what, the bull pen?" she asked sarcastically, a hand gesturing at their surroundings.

"I like the ring of that." he nodded stupidly and took the mask from her hands, pushing in it's place, the red bag they had picked up at the aquarium. "This is for you." he unzipped it to reveal hundreds of plastic baggies of what was clearly marijuana.

Arya rose her gaze to meet his. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"I need you to sell these tonight."

"You want me to... sell drugs!?"

For some reason that made him laugh out idiotically. "If you want. I mean, I can get someone else. But ...you're already here."

"I have to go home." she offered as a weak excuse and pulled on baggie out with to fingers, taking a closer look at it's herby contents. "This is what the men where here for earlier."

It wasn't a question.

"In a way." he shrugged. "Can you do it?"

"I can do anything." she dropped the baggie in the open pack.

"Will you? _Will_ you do it?" he corrected himself.

_Will I? _

_Should I? _

_..._

_Fuck it! _"Fuck it . . . I'll do it."

He grinned widely and traced the contour of her nose with his fingertip. "Good."

**AN**

**This was suppose to be the penult chapter, but I keep finding places to cut these damn chapter, so fuck it. There are two more to go. **

**Thank you all for the patience and support. This story has received to much love. Again, it's for the lovely Grace, aka magicmyth83. **

**please review, tell me what you think. **

**also, I am heavily adding some Alice in Wonderland references here and there. Some subtle, some obvious. I'd like to see how many of you caught most or all of them :)**

**That Stark Girl chapter update next!**


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